6.  The applicants are:
1) Mr Balaudy Dokayev, born in 1945,
2) Ms Koku Khamidovna Dokayeva, born in 1953,
3) Ms Rosa Talkhigova, born in 1974,
4) Ms Razet Dokayeva, born in 1996,
5) Ms Dinara Dokayeva, born in 2003,
6) Mr Timur Dokayev, born in 2000,
7) Ms Maymont (also spelled as Maymut) Askhabova, born in 1933,
8) Ms Maryam Bakarayeva, born in 1963,
9) Mr Khalid Askhabov, born in 1956,
10) Mr Leytche Dubayev, born in 1953,
11) Ms Aysara Dubayeva, born in 1957.
The applicants are three families who live in Grozny, Chechnya. The first applicant family consists of six persons (applicants 1-6). The first applicant is married to the second applicant. They are the father and the stepmother of Isa Dokayev (also spelled Dakayev), who was born in 1969. The third applicant is his wife; the fourth and fifth applicants are his daughters and the sixth applicant is his son. The second applicant family consists of three persons (applicants 7-9). The seventh applicant is the mother of Ruslan Askhabov, who was born in 1962. The eighth applicant is his wife and the ninth applicant is his brother. The third applicant family consists of two persons (applicants 10-11). They are married and are the parents of Isa Dubayev, who was born in 1981. The applicants’ relatives have been detained and subsequently disappeared.
7.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
8.  Isa Dokayev, the third applicant and their two minor children lived at 37 Zabolotnogo Street, in the Oktyabrskiy district of Grozny, Chechnya. At the material time the third applicant, Ms Rosa Talkhigova, was pregnant with their third child, the fifth applicant. On the night of 10 December 2002 they were all at home, along with Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev, who were Isa Dokayev’s guests that night. The house was located not far from the Oktyabrskiy district department of the interior (the ROVD), the military commander’s office and the local administration. Military checkpoints manned by Russian federal servicemen were located on the roads leading to and from Grozny; the area was under curfew.
9.  At about 2.30 a.m. on 10 December 2002 five or six masked men in white camouflage uniforms, armed with machine guns and pistols, rushed into Isa Dokayev’s house. At the entrance they shot the applicants’ dog. They opened fire in one of the rooms and shot up a TV set. The men neither identified themselves nor produced any documents. They were equipped with portable radios. They spoke Russian without accent, were drunk and swore. The applicants believed that the intruders were Russian military servicemen.
10.  The servicemen ordered the third applicant to stay in her room. Through the half-open door she saw her husband lying down on the kitchen floor with a soldier standing over him and pointing his machine gun at him. The soldier was kicking Isa Dokayev in the back, swearing at him and saying that he should be quiet, otherwise “it would get worse”. Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev were also lying on the floor. All three men had their hands tied and black sacks placed over their heads.
11.  The children woke up with the sound of shooting and started crying. From the kitchen floor Isa Dokayev asked his wife to calm them down. When the third applicant tried to leave her room one of the servicemen threatened to shoot her if she tried to open the door again. The servicemen kept swearing at her. When the third applicant asked where the servicemen were taking her husband and his guests, one of the officers replied: “We will run a computer check on them and tomorrow at 9 a.m. they will be back home”.
12.  The servicemen ransacked the house. After they had left the third applicant discovered that some of her family’s personal documents had disappeared, including Isa Dokayev’s passport, employment records and documents for his car. She also noticed that the fourth and sixth applicants’ birth certificates were gone, as well as some of her jewellery.
13.  In the morning of 10 December 2002 the third applicant and Isa Dokayev’s brother Ramzan Dokayev discovered empty alcohol bottles in the yard and boot prints on the snow. They followed the footprints until they turned into tyre tracks leading to the Oktyabrskiy ROVD.
14.  In the morning of 10 December 2002 the second and third applicant families found out about the abduction of their relatives from the first applicant family.
15.   In support of their statements the applicants submitted the following documents: two witness accounts provided by the third applicant, dated 23 November 2004 and 17 June 2005; a witness account by the eighth applicant dated 16 June 2005 and a hand-drawn plan of Isa Dokayev’s house and its premises dated 15 June 2005.
16.  The Government did not challenge most of the facts as presented by the applicants. According to their submission, “at about 2 a.m. on 10 December 2002 unidentified armed persons entered the house at 37 Zabolotnogo Street in Grozny, where, threatening murder, they kidnapped Isa Dokayev and the employees of the Oktyabrskiy ROVD Isa Dubayev and Ruslan Askhabov and [also] took away their service guns”.
17.  Since 10 December 2002 the applicants have repeatedly applied in person and in writing to various public bodies. They have been supported in their efforts by their representatives. In their letters to the authorities the applicants referred to their relatives’ detention and asked for assistance and details of the investigation. The applicants submitted some of the letters to the authorities and their replies to the Court. These documents are summarised below.
18.  At about 8 a.m. on 10 December 2002, at the applicants’ request, representatives of the ROVD visited Isa Dokayev’s house. They collected cartridge cases left from the shooting.
19.  On 16 December 2002 the Grozny town prosecutor’s office (“the town prosecutor’s office”) instituted an investigation into the disappearance of Ruslan Askhabov, Isa Dubayev and Isa Dokayev under Article 126 § 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (aggravated kidnapping). The case file was assigned number 52161. In the documents submitted to the Court by the applicants the criminal case file is also referred to under the numbers 52158, 40084 and 19045.
20.  On 8 January 2003 the town prosecutor’s office granted Isa Dokayev’s brother, Mr M. D., victim status in criminal case no. 52161.
21.  On 18 January 2003 the ROVD informed Mrs B. A., a relative of Ruslan Askhabov, that the town prosecutor’s office had initiated an investigation into the abduction of Ruslan Askhabov and that the search for him was under way.
22.  On 6 April 2003 the seventh and eleventh applicants wrote to the military commander’s office of the Oktyabrskiy district of Grozny (“the district military commander’s office”) requesting assistance in the search for their abducted relatives. The applicants stated that their relatives had been abducted by five military servicemen in white camouflage uniforms who spoke Russian without an accent.
23.  On 17 June 2003 the military prosecutor’s office of the United Group Alignment (the military prosecutor’s office of the UGA) forwarded the seventh applicant’s request for assistance to the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102.
24.  On 7 July 2003 the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102 informed the military prosecutor’s office of the UGA that the investigation in criminal case no. 52158 had not established the involvement of Russian military servicemen in the abduction of Ruslan Askhabov, Isa Dubayev and Isa Dokayev.
25.  On 16 July 2003 the seventh applicant again wrote to the military prosecutor’s office of the UGA with a request for assistance in the search for Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev. In her letter she stated that the abduction had been carried out by five men in camouflage uniforms.
26.  On 22 July 2003 the military prosecutor’s office of the UGA informed the tenth applicant that his request concerning the search for Isa Dubayev had been forwarded for examination to the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102. The letter also stated that the military prosecutor would investigate the possible involvement of Russian military servicemen in the abduction of Isa Dubayev.
27.  On 5 September 2003 the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102 informed the tenth applicant that the investigation in case no. 52161 had not established the involvement of Russian military servicemen in the abduction of Isa Dubayev.
28.  On 21 October 2003 the Chechnya department of the Federal Security Service (the Chechnya FSB) informed the seventh applicant that they were taking measures to identify the perpetrators of Ruslan Askhabov’s abduction. The letter further stated that Ruslan Askhabov was not suspected of committing a crime and that there were “no lawful grounds for his detention”.
29.  On 21 November 2003 the ROVD informed the applicants’ relative that in connection with the abduction of Ruslan Askhabov, the Oktyabrskiy district prosecutor’s office (the district prosecutor’s office) had opened criminal case no. 40084.
30.  On 25 February 2004 the seventh applicant once again wrote to the military prosecutor of the UGA with a request for assistance in the search for Ruslan Askhabov. In her letter she stated that her son’s abduction had been carried out by five military servicemen in white camouflage uniforms who spoke unaccented Russian.
31.  On 11 March 2004 the military prosecutor’s office of the UGA informed the seventh applicant that the enquiry conducted by the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102 had not established the involvement of Russian federal forces in the abduction of Ruslan Askhabov. The letter further stated that on 9 April 2001, in connection with the abduction of Ruslan Askhabov, the Urus-Martan district prosecutor’s office had opened criminal case no. 19045 under Article 127 § 2 of the Criminal Code (unlawful deprivation of liberty).
32.  On 12 March 2004 the interim Chechnya military commander forwarded the seventh applicant’s request for assistance to the district military commander’s office and the Chechnya Ministry of the Interior.
33.  On 28 April 2004 the district prosecutor’s office informed the eighth applicant that on 28 November 2003 the investigation in criminal case no. 52158 had been suspended owing to the failure to identify the perpetrators.
34.  On 5 August 2004 the military prosecutor’s office of the UGA forwarded the seventh applicant’s request for assistance in the search for Ruslan Askhabov to the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102.
35.  On 20 September 2004 the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102 informed the seventh applicant that neither the investigation nor additional enquiry had confirmed the involvement of Russian federal forces in the abduction of Ruslan Askhabov.
36.  On 23 December 2004 the seventh applicant wrote to the district prosecutor’s office requesting to be provided with information concerning the status of the investigation in criminal case no. 52158.
37.  On 28 December 2004 the district prosecutor’s office informed the seventh applicant that the investigation in criminal case no. 52158 had been resumed.
38.  On 21 February 2005 the third applicant wrote to the town prosecutor’s office and requested to be informed which prosecutor’s office had been investigating her husband’s abduction. She requested to be granted victim status in the proceedings and that the investigation be conducted in a thorough and effective manner.
39.  On 22 February 2005 the seventh applicant wrote to the district prosecutor’s office. She stated that the abduction of her husband had been carried out by a group of armed masked military servicemen in white camouflage uniforms. The applicant requested to be provided with information concerning the results of the investigation. In particular, she requested that the representatives of the Russian federal forces who had participated in special operations in Grozny on the night of 10 December 2002 be questioned by the investigators. She also requested that those who had been in charge of the security operations be identified and questioned.
40.  On 24 March 2005 the Chechnya prosecutor’s office informed the third applicant that on an unspecified date the district prosecutor’s office had resumed the investigation into her husband’s abduction.
41.  On 25 April 2005 the district prosecutor’s office granted the third applicant victim status in criminal case no. 52158.
42.  On 19 May 2005 the seventh applicant wrote to a number of law enforcement agencies, including the Chechnya MVD, the Chechnya prosecutor’s office and the military prosecutor of the UGA, and requested assistance in the search for her missing relative. In her letters she stated that he had been abducted by five armed military servicemen in white camouflage uniforms.
43.  Early in 2003 the third applicant lodged a claim with the Oktyabrskiy district court of Grozny seeking to have her husband Isa Dokayev declared a missing person. On 30 March 2004 the district court granted her claim and declared Isa Dokayev missing person as of 10 December 2002. On 16 August 2004, upon the third applicant’s request, the district court acknowledged the paternity of Isa Dokayev in respect of the fifth and sixth applicants.
44.  On 10 December 2002 Isa Dubayev’s relative, Mr Sch. B., complained to the Bureau of the Special Envoy of the Russian President in Chechnya for rights and freedoms (the Envoy), stating that Isa Dubayev had been abducted on 10 December 2002 by Russian military servicemen who had arrived in two APCs and a UAZ car. The Envoy forwarded this complaint to the district prosecutor’s office for examination.
45.  On 10 December 2003 (it appears that the date should be stated as 10 December 2002) an officer of the ROVD conducted a crime scene inspection at 37 Zabolotnogo Street, Grozny. As a result, two 5.45 mm calibre bullets, one 7.62 mm cartridge case and one bullet which was stuck in the TV set were collected from the scene. About a year and a half later, on 15 April 2005, the investigators conducted a second examination of the crime scene at 37 Zabolotnogo Street. As a result, it was established that the house had been abandoned; nothing was collected from the scene.
46.  On 16 December 2002 in connection with the abduction of the applicants’ relatives, the district prosecutor’s office instituted an investigation under Article 126 § 2 of the Criminal Code (aggravated kidnapping). The case file was assigned number 52158. According to the Government, the criminal case was opened upon the report of an operational officer of the ROVD dated 30 December 2002 stating that “on 10 December 2002 unidentified men in white camouflage clothing, armed with automatic weapons, broke into the house at 37 Zabolotnogo Street, where, using weapons and threats of murder, they forcibly took away the employees of the Oktyabrskiy ROVD Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev and their service weapons. The perpetrators also forcibly took away the owner of the house, Isa Dokayev, and some items of his property”. At the same time, according to the Government’s memorandum, in connection with the abduction of the applicants’ relatives, on an unspecified date the district prosecutor’s office also opened criminal case no. 52161.
47.  On 2 January 2003 the investigators ordered a ballistic expert evaluation of the bullets and cartridge cases collected from the crime scene. According to the expert’s report of 15 January 2003, the cases and bullets were prefabricated and could have been fired from a 5.45 mm weapon or a Kalashnikov machine gun.
48.  On 8 January 2003 the district prosecutor’s office received the applicants’ complaint about the abduction of Ruslan Askhabov, Isa Dubayev and Isa Dokayev. On the same date, 8 January 2003, the tenth applicant and Isa Dokayev’s relative were granted victim status in the criminal proceedings.
49.  On 20 January 2003 criminal cases no. 52161 and no. 52158, opened in connection with the abduction of Isa, Dokayev Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev, were joined in one criminal case. The case file was assigned the number 52158. The Government further stated “criminal case no. 40084 has nothing to do with criminal case no. 52158” and “no criminal case under no. 19045 is being investigated by the prosecutors’ offices in Chechnya”.
50.  On 9 and 21 January 2003 and other dates, the investigators forwarded forty requests to various law enforcement agencies in Chechnya, including the departments of the interior, the prosecutors’ offices, the military commanders’ offices of different levels and the detention centre in Vladikavkaz, Northern Ossetia. The investigators requested to be informed whether these agencies had detained the missing men and whether the latter had been suspended of involvement in illegal activities. According to the responses, the missing men had not been detained on criminal or administrative charges; they had never been prosecuted or put on the wanted list; they had not been suspected of participation in illegal armed groups and their corpses had not been found.
51.  On 27 January 2003 Ruslan Askhabov’s aunt, Mrs B.A., was granted victim status in the criminal case and questioned about the circumstances of his abduction. She stated that on 11 December 2002 she had found out from Isa Dokayev’s wife that her nephew had been abducted together with Isa Dubayev and Isa Dokayev. According to Isa Dokayev’s wife, at about 2 a.m. on 10 December 2002 she had heard their dog barking. Then she had heard shots and the dog had stopped barking. When she had tried to go outside, she had heard another shot and a bullet had stuck in the TV set. After that a group of about five men in white camouflage cloaks and masks had broken into the house. They had made all those present in the house line up along the wall and had taken Ruslan Askhabov, Isa Dubayev and Isa Dokayev away to an unknown destination.
52.  On 4 November 2003 the district prosecutor’s office received the complaint about the abduction of Isa Dubayev (see paragraph 44 above). On the same date the investigators requested from the Ministry of Defence to inform them whether any special operations had been carried out in the Oktyabrskiy district of Grozny on the night of 10 December 2002. According to the response, military units of the Ministry of Defence had neither participated in special operations on 9-10 December 2002 nor detained the missing men.
53.  On an unspecified date the investigators questioned the third applicant, who had stated that on the night of 10 December 2002 she and her husband Isa Dokayev had been at home. Two employees of the ROVD, Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev, had stayed in their house that night. The witness had gone to bed at about 11 p.m.; her husband and his guests had stayed up watching TV. At about 2 a.m. she had heard their dog barking, then machine-gun fire and then the dog had stopped barking. Isa Dokayev had run to the door where he had been met by a group of unidentified armed men in white camouflage clothing. When the men had seen Isa Dubayev’s service machine gun, they had run outside and started shooting at the house. Isa Dokayev had shouted to the men to stop the shooting as children were sleeping in the house. Then the men ordered him to throw the machine gun out of the window. After the applicant’s husband had done so, five armed men had entered the house. They spoke unaccented Russian among themselves. The men had tied the hands of the applicant’s husband and of Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev behind their backs with adhesive tape. Then they had put black plastic bags over the men’s heads and had taken the three men into different rooms. After that the intruders had demanded the keys of Isa Dokayev’s VAZ-21099 car, which was parked in the yard. They had unsuccessfully tried to start the car. After that the armed men had taken Isa Dokayev, Isa Dubayev and Ruslan Askhabov away.
54.  On an unspecified date the investigators questioned Isa Dokayev’s neighbour, Mr A. Kh., who stated that on the night of 10 December 2002 he had been sleeping in his house, when at about 2 a.m. he had heard some noise, but had not paid attention to it. The next morning he had found out that a group of unidentified armed men had taken away his neighbour Isa Dokayev and two employees of the ROVD.
55.  On unspecified dates the investigators questioned the colleagues of Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev, Mrs N.B., Mr S.D. and Mr B.K. Mrs N.B. stated that she had worked with Ruslan Askhabov from 2000 to December 2002. At the time of his abduction he was working at the passport and visa service of the ROVD; his colleagues rated him positively. The witness found out about his abduction from the colleagues. Witnesses Mr S.D. and Mr B.K. provided similar statements and stated that they had worked in the ROVD with Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev, and that the two men had been rated positively by their colleagues.
56.  According to the Government, the investigation in criminal case no. 52158 had been suspended on several occasions owing to the failure to identify the perpetrators. The applicants or their relatives had been duly informed about the suspensions and the resumptions of the investigation. Although the authorities had failed to establish the whereabouts of the missing men or the perpetrators of their abduction, the investigation was still in progress.
57.  The Government stated that “according to the information in our possession today, no special operations were conducted in Grozny, Chechnya, on 9-10 December 2002; representatives of the State did not detain Isa Dokayev, Ruslan Askhabov and Isa Dubayev”.
58.  The Government also submitted that on 30 March 2004 the Oktyabrskiy district court of Grozny had declared Isa Dokayev a missing person and on 16 August 2004 the same court had acknowledged the paternity of Isa Dokayev in respect of the fifth and sixth applicants.
59.  Despite specific requests by the Court the Government did not disclose any documents from criminal case no. 52158. They stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.